Just like opening night at the opera takes time, effort, and planning; the settlement of your conveyancing transaction is a time of completion, new horizons and most often anxiety.  That’s the main reason for using professional conveyancing experts like Bliss Conveyancing, knowing that you have the best possible representation and planning for the big day means that it will go as planned and you can focus on celebrating the next step in your property journey.  Anxiety is always reduced by understanding, so in this article Bliss Conveyancing will lay out the process so that you have a clear view of what is about to unfold.

The Ostrich Sees No Evil

When a property transaction is coming to settlement, ignorance is never bliss.  Don’t waste time burying your head in the sand, have faith that you have selected a professional that will serve your interests appropriately.  You also need to be informed, which is why Bliss Conveyancing dedicates itself to effective and transparent communication with our valued clients.  We even go to the effort to let you know about how things work, like in our introductory conveyancing guide.

In the lead up to settlement there are a couple of things you can actively manage to ensure that there are no surprises at the last minute.

Paperwork

If you’re getting a mortgage, or getting rid of one, there will be a mountain of paperwork to attend to.  Your broker and conveyancer will be talking to each other about this, and you can certainly take the opportunity to be proactive about getting it done.  In most cases you should allow 10 days prior to settlement to ensure that all the paperwork is completed correctly, so put on a smile, line up at the post office to be identified, and get your documents finalised as quickly as you can.

Final Inspection

Regardless of whether you are the seller or the buyer, you should do everything you can to arrange a pre-settlement inspection. Call your agent, broker or conveyancer to organise a time in the week leading up to settlement.  This will give you the best possible chance of avoiding last minute objections to the transaction and ensure that all parties are satisfied at settlement.

Show Time

For hundreds of years, the transfer of property required representatives of both parties to show up, usually at the seller’s bank, and exchange cheques, signed transfer documents and related paperwork.  The buyer would then have to pay stamp duty and lodge the signed documents with the land titles office before the ownership was transferred.  Sometimes that still occurs today, and most settlements are performed online using a service like PEXA where all of the authorities and documents are held electronically and once settlement is concluded, the land titles office is updated electronically, and the transfer of title is almost instantaneous.

Whether its electronic or physical settlement, the preparations that you and your conveyancer made will ensure that it goes smoothly.  The electronic settlement system means that less things can go wrong, and there are still a few things that can hold up your settlement, like:

Payment delays – banks can often have internal processes that take additional time, and this can result in the funds required for the purchase to be unavailable at the scheduled time.

Documentation errors – just prior to settlement, all parties will be checking and re-checking the documents.  If an error is discovered, it can cause delays from a few hours to a few weeks, depending on the severity of the error.

Stacked settlements – when you are selling one property to buy another and attempting to settle them at the same time, this multiplies the possibility of errors and delays and you must ensure that settlements occur in the correct order, or they may fail.

Final inspections – if the buyer is not satisfied with the final inspection, it can cause a delay or even a cancellation of the settlement.  It is in the sellers’ interest to keep everything in working order and maintain the property in as close condition as possible to the first inspection.

Getting It Right

A property transaction may be something you do only once or twice in your lifetime, and Bliss Conveyancing conduct property transactions hundreds of times each month.  Our expertise and experience ensure that you have the best possible representation in the transaction and that the settlement goes smoothly for all parties.  If you would like some more information of settlements, please contact us and we will resolve your questions.